This week MOONS has taken delivery of its first major optical components, the RI band dichroics. Each of the two MOONS spectrographs has three different spectral channels; light is split into these channels through two dichroics. The dichroics received are the first ones in the beam, which reflect the short wavelength radiation into the RI … Continue reading Ready to split the beam
Progress on the MOONS cameras
A major assembly test has been successfully carried out for the MOONS cameras. The main mechanical structure for the MOONS cameras is being built and tested in Cambridge, but the structure to support and focus the camera detectors is being built in Edinburgh. For the first time these two complex assemblies have been joined together … Continue reading Progress on the MOONS cameras
Radiation shield fills the lab
MOONS has just taken delivery of by far and away the largest component we have received so far: the radiation shield. This colossal* structure will line the inside of the instrument's cryostat, forming the final barrier between the warm outside world and the chilled world inside MOONS, which will operate at around 130 K. The radiation … Continue reading Radiation shield fills the lab
Testing the electronics
We have received (and tested) the first batch of circuit boards for the FPUs. Each FPU requires two circuit boards; the main drive electronics that attach to the base of the FPU and a smaller board that is mounted on the alpha stage of the FPU and relays signals from the motor and switches on … Continue reading Testing the electronics
Collimator mirror structure
Some of largest parts of MOONS so far have just arrived in Edinburgh from Italy! Thanks Arcetri! In the box lie the support structures for the collimator mirrors, one for each of the spectrographs. Each support structure alone weighs 70kg, and another 70kg for the mirrors themselves. We don't yet have the mirrors, although one … Continue reading Collimator mirror structure
